Family
by GlitteryCows
Summary: The organization that was comprised of nine powerful missing-nins named the Akatsuki had only one weakness. This weakness was a small curious girl that brought happiness and joy in their lives.
1. Chapter 1

_I decided to make a new fic because I'm confused on how to continue my first one (which is called 'The bright side'... You should check it out, just saying.) and since everyone is doing stories about Akatsuki I decided to jump on the band wagon. OC warning, if you didn't already know._

_Update: I changed the description of the story or whatever. The old one was not that good. Actually, they're both not good, but the current one makes me happier. _

_I don't own Naruto._

* * *

A five year old child sprinted as fast as she could through the streets of the hidden rain village. Currently, there was rain pouring from the dimly lit sky. The said five year old adored the rain. The smell, the feeling and the noise of it brought her to absolute happiness. Her entire life she lived in these weather conditions, but it's not like she minded in the least bit. She giggled and ran until she collided with a tall figure dressed in a black cloak which was decorated in red clouds.

"Akiko." A voice scolded. Akiko looked up with her large brown innocent eyes towards the person who ruined her fun. She recognized the person instantly and pouted knowing she would get scolded.

"Yes, Kisa?" She mumbled. She started to kick the wet ground nervously with the tip of her shoe.

"How many times did Itachi and I tell you not to run outside by yourself? " Kisame crouched down to look eye-to-eye with the child

"A lot of times." She muttered looking down to avoid the sharks gaze. After a few minutes she muttered. "I'm sorry."

Kisame sighed and slowly got up. "C'mon, let's get back to the base. Everyone's probably worried." He held out his large hand, which Akiko grabbed happily. Whenever Kisame let out his hand to Akiko, she knew it was his way of accepting her apology. She grinned and they made their way to the base of the Akatsuki members. Akiko swung her hand that Kisame was holding and skipped while going through the village.

When they got to an alleyway in the village Kisame dropped the hold of Akiko and crouched down and gestured for her to jump onto his back. Akiko immediately pounced on his back and sat on his shoulders. Kisame jumped over the roof of buildings towards a large rain forest. They reached the desired forest quickly and efficiently. He started jumping from tree to tree making his way to the base.

"Kisa." Akiko spoke breaking the silence between the two.

"Yes, Akiko?" Kisame replied.

"Why don't we live in the village?" Akiko questioned while leaning her head to sit on top of Kisame's.

Kisame sighed silently. "I thought we went over this already."

"I know, but I'm going to keep asking until we finally do." Akiko responded with slight determination evident in her voice. Kisame smiled at that. He loved how Akiko was so young, yet she was always determined to do what she set her mind on. Everyone agreed that she would be an outstanding kunoichi when she's older.

They approached the base, which snapped Kisame out of his daydreaming. He quickly did a jutsu and opened the entrance of the base. Slowly, he let down Akiko off of his shoulders so she could walk freely. Akiko bit her lip and hesitated to walk in. This was the third time this week she didn't listen to her orders, she was sure she wasn't going to get away with it that easily.

"K-Kisa, go first." Akiko stuttered.

Kisame smirked. "You're going to have to face them sometime, kid."

She reluctantly followed Kisame while he walked into the grand entrance of the Akatsuki base. When she got closer to the living room she grabbed Kisame's pant leg and hid her small figure behind him. Akiko wasn't a big fan of getting scolded.

"Kisame! Did you see Akiko anywhere, un?" A flustered blonde cried.

"Maybe, but weren't you supposed to watch her?" Kisame growled slightly.

"Well…" Deidara started. He looked down embarrassed, but he caught the sight of brown hair peeking out from behind the sharks legs. "Akiko! How many times did we tell you not to run away without supervision, un?"

Akiko pouted revealing her small self to Deidara. "I'm sorry. I swear I'll never do it again."

Deidara rolled his eyes and sighed eased that he finally found the missing girl. "That's what you said last time, Akiko, yeah." Deidara snapped.

"Did you find her?" a new voice demanded. A figure appeared from the depths of the hall to show a worried puppet. He ran a hand through his red locks when he spotted the missing girl.

"Akiko, sit on the couch. I need to have a small talk with you." The puppet ordered.

Akiko obediently followed his orders and sat on the couch. Akiko knew exactly what was going to come. Sasori crouched in front of her with his narrowed eyes.

"How many times do we have to tell you not to run away?" Sasori started.

"Many times…" Akiko replied weakly looking at her lap.

"And why did you run away this time?" Sasori asked.

Akiko started to twiddle her fingers. "I was bored."

Sasori used his right hand to massage his temple. "Akiko, that's not a valid reason for you to run without permission. What would happen if someone took you? Or if you got hurt by someone?"

"But, no one actually took me and I didn't get hurt. I ran into Kisame." She mumbled instantly.

Sasori sighed looking at her figure. He used his hand to tilt her head in order to see her bright green eyes. "That won't always be the case. You're just lucky." Sasori explained. "Just… don't let this happen again. Understand? This is the third time this week you disobeyed everyone."

"I understand." Akiko grunted and bit her lip.

"Now let's go see Pein-sama and Konan. They'll be pleased to know that you're back." Sasori sarcastically said while dusting himself off.

Akiko groaned knowing Pein would be annoyed and probably scold her similar to what Sasori just did. She followed the red head down the halls, while walking she noticed the lack of people and noise. "Sasori, where is everyone?" she asked curiously.

"They're all on missions. Most of them are getting back tomorrow." he responded. "You should be happy; there are not many people who are going to scold you this time."

"You're not going to tell them, are you?" she asked frightened.

Sasori didn't talk for a moment then admitted. "Probably not."

"Thank you!" Akiko instantly hugged his legs after he said that.

"Yeah, yeah. You just have to convince the brat, Kisame, Pein and Konan." He grunted waving it off slightly hugging her back.

In reality, Akiko has the Akatsuki wrapped around her tiny fingers. She was the soft spot to everyone in the base. As stoic as some of them claim to be, she would break through their shell of emotions and make them smile. Even though no one would actually admit this, it was clear they all loved her in their own way.

They finally reached the leaders office and Sasori tapped gently on the wooden door. "Enter" Pein's voice boomed from behind it. Sasori looked at the small child below him and raised an eyebrow. She took a deep breath and nodded. The puppet opened the door to reveal their two leaders. Sasori walked in and Akiko hid behind him similar to how she was hiding behind Kisame, except Sasori wasn't as big as Kisame, so it was clearly obvious she was behind him.

"Akiko!" Konan cried rushing towards the small child and giving her a hug. She put both hand on her shoulders and held her an arms-length away. "Stop running away, you're going to give everyone hard attacks!"

Pein waved off Sasori and ordered him to close the door while Konan was busy hugging the small child. Once Konan was done she quickly dismissed herself in order to leave for a small supply mission. She gave a kiss on the cheek of Akiko and silently left the office. Pein looked at Akiko with an angry and annoyed expression.

"Akiko," he started.

"I'm sorry, daddy!" she cried interrupting him.

Akiko has dubbed Pein and Konan as her parents. Ever since she was little she has found them to be as close as parental love could be, and she has forever dubbed them as her mom and dad. She once asked if they were her real parents, but Konan and Pein had told her that they found her in the woods. She was told that she was hurt and wrapped in a blanket. Akiko doesn't bring up the subject about her parents; she would usually break down into tears thinking of why she wasn't good enough to stay with her real parents or thinking her real parents abused her and left her alone to die. This was a touchy subject amongst the Akatsuki and Akiko.

Pein sighed deeply. "This is the third time this week, Akiko. You were gone for nearly seven hours, this time. Something could have happened to you."

"But, nothing did! I mean at-" Akiko began, but was interrupted.

"Akiko." Pein hissed. "Anyone could have gotten you, don't think lowly of this incident just because you haven't been able to get caught yet. The next time you might not be as lucky, I want you to remember that. I don't want to burn every village in the world in order to look for you."

"Yes, daddy." She mumbled looking down.

"If it happens again, you will be by my side every second of every day. Do I make myself clear?" Pein advised.

"Yes, daddy." Akiko repeated groaning a bit.

Pein looked over Akiko and took a deep breath. "Good, now go get something to eat. I'm sure you didn't get any breakfast."

Akiko wore a small smile on her face knowing that Pein wasn't mad at her and ran towards him, she quickly went on her tippy-toes and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm sorry, daddy. Please don't tell anyone." After that, she ran out the door in hunt to look for some much needed food.

She skipped through the hall towards the kitchen. Her mood was lightened when she knew Pein and Sasori weren't going to kill her. She hummed and dragged her fingers across the wall of the hallway. She finally reached her desired location to find Deidara poking his head in the fridge. "Dei, could you get me some food, please." Akiko asked politely.

Deidara inwardly groaned at the nickname. He wasn't too fond of being called Dei, but it's much better than 'brat'.

"What food do you want, un?" Deidara sighed.

"Anything." Akiko grinned. Deidara shrugged and grabbed a bowl of cereal and poured milk into it. He slid it over accompanied with a spoon and she smiled gladly accepting it. "Thank you."

She dug into her food looking like a wild animal. Deidara rolled his eyes and smiled at her antics. "Slow down, you're going to choke, yeah." He instructed and walked over to her, slowly retracting the spoon from her mouth.

At this time Kisame came into the kitchen for a bite as well. He went straight to the fridge, grabbed a litre of juice and downed it in a few seconds. He then realized Akiko sitting down and eating cereal. He threw the carton into the bin and made his way to the child.

"Did Pein-sama eat you?" Kisame joked.

"Yeah he did, I'm just a ghost wanting some food." She said sarcastically.

"You, little lady." He pointed towards her. "Are spending way too much time with the puppet."

She smiled in response and went back to eating her cereal.

"Hey, Dei-chan want to make me some food too?" Kisame asked with a sweet-tone.

"It's Deidara! And make your own shark face, un." He snapped.

Kisame's pouted "Harsh." He got up and went through the small snacks they had in the base. Kisame settled on eating an apple and sat beside Akiko, who was still eating her cereal.

"Kisa, Where's Tachi?" Akiko wondered.

"He should be back soon; I found your chakra signature in the village so I departed with him to investigate." Kisame mumbled while chewing his apple.

Akiko finished her cereal and left her dishes on the table. She rested her elbows on the table and sighed. "I'm bored."

"You're always bored." Kisame and Deidara replied at the same moment. She rolled her eyes and started drumming her fingers lightly on the wooden table.

"Kisame?"a new voice questioned breaking Akiko from her boredom.

"Hey, Itachi." Kisame called from where he was seated.

The Uchiha suddenly showed himself to the three occupants in the room. His eyes were directed at the small girl who was visibly cowering underneath him.

"Akiko," Itachi scolded in a similar manner as Pein. Akiko avoided his eyes and grunted, which confirmed that he was heard.

"How many times, Akiko? How many countless times have we told you about this? I don't want this ever to happen again." Itachi lectured raising his voice slightly. He noticed she was still avoiding his dark orbs. "Akiko, look at me and promise that this won't happen again."

Akiko hesitated for a moment then looked at her brotherly-figure with her large eyes. "I'm sorry, Tachi. It won't happen again. I promise." She wiggled her small pinky in front of her. Itachi walked over and crossed pinkies with the small girl.

Itachi inwardly smiled at the small girl. He was glad that Akiko was safe and that nothing had happened, even though this is the one of many times, he was always scared of her well-being.

"Yo, Itachi. Do you want to report to Pein, or should I?" Kisame asked with a raised eye brow.

"If you don't mind, can you do it, Kisame?" Itachi spoke back to his shark partner.

Groaning Kisame got out of his chair, rolled his shoulders and twisted his hips side-to-side. "Yeah, yeah." He replied. The large blue man walked to the entrance of the kitchen and disappeared after making a right turn. A few moments after the shark left, Deidara excused himself out of the kitchen to go play with his clay and explode stuff. With that, it left the small Akiko and the large Uchiha in the kitchen alone sitting through an awkward silence.

"So, what's your excuse to run away this time?" Itachi questioned breaking the tension.

Akiko looked around before finally responding with a tiny voice. "I… was bored…"

Itachi smacked his hand to his forehead and rolled his eyes. "Of course you were." He mumbled.

Akiko was somewhat amused because of how similar her daddy and her Tachi acted; of course she wouldn't show it on her face. Otherwise, she would have to sit through another lecture and Akiko wasn't in the mood for that.

"Don't tell anyone else, please." Akiko pouted. Itachi's eyes softened instantly, but quickly hid it with a cough.

"Don't let it happen again, then." He stated looking away from her pout. Akiko rolled her eyes and smiled at how he was avoiding her gaze.

Akiko smiled brightly in response.

* * *

_Review please&thanks :D_


	2. Chapter 2

_Hidan is in this chapter, meaning there will be an overuse of profanities. :D_

_I don't on Naruto, btw._

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Akiko was ripped from her deep sleep when she heard ruckus and yelling from the kitchen. Grumbling, she got out of bed and trudged to the location of the loud noise. When she arrived she was greeted with an amusing scene.

In the kitchen was a frightened looking blonde wearing a pink frilly apron with a vivid red-headed puppet over top of him. Splattered around the kitchen was a mixture of what seemed to be pancake mix, this mixture was also in a large clump on Sasori's head.

"Brat…" Sasori gritted through his clenched teeth. He wore a small smirk that was currently twitching. "I'm giving you three seconds to leave this planet peacefully, before I decide to murder you slowly and painfully."

"But… The food's going to burn, yeah." Deidara whined, yet he was clearly amused at his partner's expense.

"Three," Sasori lifted three fingers in the air while glaring at Deidara.

"Wai-" Deidara sputtered, trying to negotiate.

Sasori started to tap his foot impatiently; he gradually put another finger down. Deidara eyes were widened at Sasori's expression, but being the man he is, he decided to be stubborn and cross his arms like a small child.

"One…Zero." The second the word came out of Sasori's mouth, puppets were seen advancing towards Deidara. The blonde yelped and quickly tried to avoid the puppets advancing towards him.

Meanwhile, Akiko noticed there was smoke coming from the stove and the smell of something burning filled the air.

"Dei, Sasori! The pancakes!" Akiko cried out. The two rivals stopped fighting and looked at the tiny girl who was pointing frantically at the stove. Deidara immediately attended to the now burnt pancakes, while Sasori used some of his puppets to create wind and blow out the crass smell of smoke. Akiko sighed after the pancakes were under control. She looked at Deidara and raised an eye brow at his attire.

"Dei? Why are you wearing a pink apron? Pink is for girls." Akiko asked curiously tilting her head slightly to the side.

Deidara looked away embarrassed. Pink was dusted on his cheeks. "Because I don't want my clothes to be dirty, and this is the only one in the base, un." he grumbled.

Sasori chuckled. "It seems there are three girls living in this base."

"Shut up, un." Deidara replied glaring at his Danna.

Kisame frantically ran in the kitchen with bed head hair. He grabbed Akiko's shoulders and held her protectively to his person. Akiko was suddenly frightened, but then started to laugh at his expression and his useless worry.

"What's wrong?" Kisame asked, still agitated.

"Look around, Kisa. Let it register in your head before you jump to conclusions." Akiko managed to say between giggles. The shark looked confused and started to look around and register the scene into his brain. He ran a hand through his blue messy hair and sighed. He started to exit out of the room, wanting to get some well needed sleep. While leaving he managed to hit Deidara up-side the head. The blonde started whining about the blow, and Sasori managed to evade the attack from the grumpy shark.

"Is there any pancakes that I could eat?" Akiko said, while giggling at the two artists. Deidara grabbed some good pancakes and placed them on a plate with syrup spread over top. "Here, un."

"Thank you, Dei" Akiko happily responded and dug into her pancakes. At this point in time, Itachi walked into the kitchen in search for food. He raised his brow at the mess, but did not question the people in the kitchen. He eyed the pancakes for a moment then went in search for something else.

Obviously offended, Deidara started to snap at Itachi. "Do you know how much time I've spent on these, hmm?"

Itachi looked at him with a blank expression then towards the batch of food stacked on top of a plate. The pancakes made by the blonde were in awkward shapes and some of them were burnt, while some of them weren't even cooked. "Seemingly, not enough." He muttered.

Deidara pouted and glared at the raven-haired man, while Sasori left the room to go do what puppets do.

"Tachi… I was thinking. Can I go with you on your next mission? Pretty please?" Akiko pleaded. Deidara and Itachi stiffened at the question.

"What brought upon this, Akiko?" Itachi inquired with narrowed eyes. Akiko never asked any one in the base to go on missions. This question threw Deidara and Itachi off guard.

"Well… Everyone in the base goes on missions, even mommy does. Why don't I get to go on missions?" Akiko replied.

Itachi and Deidara exchanged a small glance. "U-um… It's too risky, yeah. We don't want little Akiko-chan to get hurt, yeah." Deidara sputtered.

"Tachi told me he went on missions when he was my age. I'm not small anymore, Dei." Akiko responded slightly pouting.

"Akiko. You're still too young." Itachi sighed.

Akiko huffed. "But you told me that you went on missions when you were young."

Deidara glared at Itachi and elbowed him. He turned to Akiko and faked a smile. "He was just kidding, hmm. He was trying to impress you."

"I know you're lying. Your jaw always locks or you look away when you lie." Akiko rolled her eyes. She turned away and left the room clearly upset.

Deidara and Itachi sighed. "We need to talk to Pein-sama." Itachi mumbled.

* * *

Akiko was slowly walking down the hallway looking at the ground. _All I want is to go on one mission… or at least be allowed to leave the base and meet a kid my age and become friends with him or her. _She sighed. _I'm almost six years old and I don't have any freedom to go outside the base._ She thought.

"Oi! The fuck is wrong with you?" someone from behind her yelled. Her face brightened when she recognized the voice with the profanities.

"Hidan!" Akiko squealed. She immediately turned towards the voice and spotted him down the hallway. She ran towards him and tackled the unaware Jashinist.

"Alright, Alright. Get the fuck off." Hidan grumbled pushing her slightly off of his person. "Now, tell me what the fuck you're moping about."

"It's just the fact that I'm never allowed on missions. I always see you and Kakuzu leave and everyone else in the base, but not me." Akiko sighed. Hidan narrowed his eyes.

"Why the fuck do you want to go on missions anyways? They're a waste of time and they're annoying as hell. You should be happy the leaders don't make you go on missions, bitch." Hidan exclaimed.

Akiko looked away and replied. "I have nothing else to do in the base. Why do you think I run away all the time? It's so boring." When she mentioned running away she started to fidget. Hidan caught on, knowing the reactions of the small girl.

"In other words, you fucking ran away again." Hidan rolled his eyes. "Bitch, everyone shits a brick when you run. It's annoying as fuck listening to them."

"It's not my fault." Akiko murmured.

"What the fuck ever." Hidan replied and turned away from Akiko to go to Peins office.

"Hidan, can you persuade them. Please." Akiko said in a small voice.

Hidan stopped in his tracks. "You're too fucking young for that shit." Hidan responded after a moment then left the hallway, to go towards Pein's office. Akiko furrowed her brows. _Hidan agreed with them…? Hidan of all people agreed with Deidara and Itachi? _Akiko stood confused in the small hallway of the base. She made her way to her room to take a small nap and enjoy her time alone.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Akatsuki base a meeting was recently being held regarding a small girl, around a large oval-shaped table sat the nine members.

"Dammit. What are we going to do, un." Deidara groaned.

Sasori put a hand to his forehead annoyed by his partner's stupidity. "Brat, that's the whole point of this meeting."

"I know that, but we need to come up with a solution, yeah." Deidara snapped.

"No shit, Sherlock." Hidan threw at the blonde.

"Fuck off, yeah." Deidara said glaring at Hidan.

Hidan glared back at the artist. "Want to fight about it?"

"Hell ye-" Deidara started, but was cut off by the man sitting at the head of the table.

"Enough." Pein ordered. "We all knew Akiko would want to go on missions someday. I have already come to a conclusion that she will go on a mission with Itachi and Sasori. This mission will only be a small one; it will be a supplies mission to one of the towns nearby. This will take place tomorrow, make sure you're ready. I just wanted you all to become aware of this decision, therefore I called a meeting. There is no room for discussion. You are all dismissed. "

Pein and Konan disappeared out of the room after they ended the meeting. After their departure Itachi, Kakuzu and Zetsu left the room not wanting to be in the same room as the idiots of the base.

"What a pointless fucking meeting." Hidan groaned.

Deidara slammed his hand on the table angrily and stood up after the leaders and three other members left. "That's a stupid decision! Akiko's prone to getting caught. Wh-"

"We have to keep the secret from her at all costs. If Pein-sama's allowing her on missions, we shouldn't be worried. Besides, if we keep denying her on missions it is more likely she will run away, brat." Sasori testified cutting the bomber off.

"This is so fucking confusing for me." Hidan stated.

"It's not like you have the brains to comprehend anything, Hidan." Kisame retorted.

"Fuck off, fish stick." Hidan yelled to the shark. Annoyed by the people in the room, Sasori left silently.

"At least she won't be sad around the base now, un." Deidara muttered.

* * *

_So, there's some (attempt of) fluff at the beginning. I really dislike this chapter because of the sudden mood change. Whenever I write stories I struggle with transitioning the moods. Forgive me, I'm learning. ( If you notice this as well, can you help me out)_

_Thank you for the review, Freehugs0009. :)_


	3. Chapter 3

_I'm so sorry for not updating earlier! I'm going to get a chapter in on Monday or before that and it will be much longer than this one. I'm very sorry ): _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._

* * *

Itachi ran his hand through his long raven colored hair as he walked down one of the many hallways of the large base. He finally found the certain door he was in search for. Itachi lightly knocked on the wooden door of a certain small girl's room.

"Akiko?" He said in a low voice.

"What is it, Tachi?" A smaller voice replied, but was barely audible because of the thick wood in between the two people.

"I have some rather... exiting news for you." He responded. "I don't think you will be disappointed."

"What is it?" She sighed.

Itachi's eyes softened hearing the sadness in her voice. He always felt he had a strong connection with Akiko from the very beginning. He always felt that he needed to protect her from any dangers that lie in her path, be it physical or emotional. She is able to do something to Itachi that no one has been able to do for a very long time; even his partner is barely successful in making this happen.

Akiko is able to break his shell and make him show emotion. She is able to take away his stoic emotion and turn it into a face of happiness. "Open the door and I'll tell you." He replied.

There was a small moment of silence, until he heard the sound of a bed creaking and small footsteps going towards him. The handle of the door slightly turned and was cracked open by a small girl with bright eyes looking away from his dark ones. Itachi smirked and crouched down so he was eye level with the child.

"Guess what?" Itachi said with a bit of amusement, while Akiko stood with a blank expression still looking away. "Pein's giving you a mission."

The instant moment that phrase left his mouth Akiko's eyes widened and looked directly towards Itachi's. Her sad impassive face now glowed with great happiness.

"Really?" She shrieked excitedly. Itachi responded by a nod and Akiko instantly put her small arms around Itachi's neck. She quickly pulled back with a smile painted across her face and frantically, but excitedly started asking an abundance of questions while bouncing around in her spot. "What mission is it? When am I going? Who am I going with? Where is my mission? Will I get hurt? Do I need to bring weapons? Will I be going by myself? Do I need to wear special clothes? What if some-"

Itachi cut her off by slowly standing up and ruffling her hair. Akiko stopped and pouted while grumbling a string of words that were not able to be heard. "Go talk to Pein-sama, I think he can answer all these questions." Itachi suggested.

"Okay." She replied with a bright smile. Itachi watched with a slight smile as she skipped towards the office of the leaders of the base.

Akiko went as fast as she could to go see her 'mommy' and 'daddy'. _A mission! Finally, I get to go on a mission! _She thought ecstatically. She quickly made it to the room and threw the door open to see Pein looking at her with an impassive expression and a raised brow. She ran towards the orange haired man and tackled him with her full weight.

"Akiko." He grunted. "It's not nice to barge into people's rooms without knocking."

Akiko stopped and pulled back. "I'm so sorry, daddy. But it's just that Itachi told me that I was going on a mission." She started bouncing around while holding the leader's arms. "So, am I? Or was Itachi lying to me, if I am wh-"

Pein silenced her by ruffling her hair, similar to what Itachi had recently done. "Calm down, or I won't tell you."

Akiko stopped and shut her mouth. She backed away from Pein and blinked a few times. Pein inwardly smirked and began. "Akiko, you will be going on a mission with Itachi and Sasori tomorrow morning. You must be ready in time, or they will leave without you. The mission is to gather certain supplies for this base from a nearby town, for we are currently running out and are in desperate need. You must be very careful and you must not disobey Itachi or Sasori at any point in time. Are you willing to take this mission?"

She nodded her head and started to break out into the beautiful smile that lit up the base. Akiko ran towards Pein and gave him a small peck on the cheek while she muttered. "Thank you so much, daddy. I love you."

With that she ran out of the office and towards her room to pack her things for her first upcoming mission.

* * *

Hidan lazily walked around the base towards his room to get his scythe for his well-needed ritual. He passed by Akiko's room and noticed numerous amounts of clothing and scrolls strewn around the room. He stood in the door and raised an eyebrow. However, Akiko did not notice his presence, for she was too busy throwing things around her room.

"Should I bring the weapons that daddy got me... What happens if a lose it?" she grumbled. She sighed, fell to the ground and leaned her back on the closest wall.

"I told you missions were a pain in the ass." Hidan said making Akiko jump.

"Hidan… How long were you standing there?" Akiko quietly questioned with a light dust of pink spread on her porcelain cheeks.

"I was going to my fucking room to grab my scythe for a ritual. I passed by your room and saw you throwing shit all over the place." He replied then looked at the stuffed bag in the corner of the room. "Bitch, if you bring too much things it's going to be hard to fucking carry around." Hidan left after he made his statement. Akiko grumbled and hit the back of her head to the wall repeatedly.

Being in the next room, Sasori got annoyed and disturbed in fixing his puppets by the loud hits to the wall. He walked towards the disturbance with an annoyed expression. He opened his door and walked to the right of his own room and towards Akiko's. He quickly reached it, for their rooms are connected. Sasori stood in the doorway and saw the small girl on the crowded floor looking frustrated. He raised his eyebrow while the corners of his lips tilted up.

"Akiko, you need to stop hitting your head against the wall. It's annoying me." He finally spoke in an amused tone.

Akiko sighed and opened one eye towards his person. "I'm sorry I disturbed you, Danna."

Sasori's eye twitched and he glared at the girl. She opened both eyes and smiled a small smile.

"Mind if I come in?" Sasori asked with narrowed eyes, still offended by the nickname his idiot partner uses.

"Not really, Danna." She grinned, but then proceeded to slump against the wall with her bright smile fading. Sasori ignored the name and cautiously made his way to the child. He finally reached her and sat beside her. They sat in a comfortable silence until Akiko spoke in a small tone. "Sasori, were you ever scared when you went on your first mission?"

Sasori looked at Akiko then towards the weapons scattered around the room. "You're scared?" He raised a brow and looked at the flushed girl. He was silent for a short moment, but replied.

"To be honest, I was a little scared. Going out to where ninjas are and a possibility of getting killed, is something that should be feared. Especially for you, you've never been very far from the base for a long time because everyone is overprotective of you." He stood up and placed a wooden hand on top of her head. "Don't worry kid, Itachi and I are right beside you. The mission is just gathering supplies, there's not much danger to worry about."

Akiko smiled and looked as if a huge weight was off of her shoulders. She stood and wrapped her small arms around the hips of the puppet. "Thank you, Sasori."

Sasori returned it by placing one hand against her back. He proceeded to leave the room and called to her from the hallway. "Konan is going to have a fit if she sees this; you better clean it up now."

Akiko's eyes widened and she started to quickly put everything where it should be, while the puppet was smiling in the room beside hers.

* * *

_Yet again, I am truly sorry. I would like to thank the reviewers who reviewed, for I feel really special when I see a review (is that weird?...)._

_This chapter sucks in my opinion, but I didn't want to update even later. (This is also why it's very short. The next one will be better in quality and longer, I promise.) _

_Anyways, read and review? _


	4. Chapter 4

_Enjoy! _

_I don't own Naruto._

* * *

Akiko's eyes snapped open as she sat up in bed. Because of the mission announcement she hasn't been able to sleep very well for the past night. She checked the clock on her bedside table which read the time that she was supposed to arise. She smiled happily, for she was that much closer to going on her desired mission. Akiko slowly got out of bed and stretched out her tense muscles from the lack of movement in a long period of time. She made her way to the bathroom to get ready for the big day.

Once she was prepared and fully awake, she skipped over to the kitchen in search for some well-needed food. Akiko entered the room and was greeted by two people she heavily adored. She smiled at their direction. "Good morning, Tachi and Sasori."

They both replied with a grunt and a nod. Akiko made her way to where both people were located and started to eat what was presented on the table in front of her. She speedily finished, for she was eager to start the new experience. Akiko cleaned up her mess and sat beside Itachi who was to the left of Sasori.

She leaned her head into her right hand waiting for the two males to give the signal to leave. Sasori and Itachi made eye contact for a moment and smirked slightly. Akiko started to drum her fingers while humming after a few minutes. Mentally, Both Itachi and Sasori counted down in their heads.

As if on cue, Akiko sighed irritably, stood from her chair and started bouncing around Itachi and Sasori who were both sitting side by side around the large dining table. "Tachi, Sasori. May we go now?" Akiko pleaded.

Sasori chuckled quietly and placed a hand on her head which stopped her from pouncing around. "Alright, we'll meet you at the entrance. Bring your stuff and say your good-byes. The village is 3 days away, but this estimated time could change if we have to change courses."

She blinked in understanding and smiled. "Okay, but don't leave without me!" She replied running out of the kitchen to grab her things that were currently in her room.

"She's almost at impatient as me." The puppet muttered to himself with a small smirk.

"Hn." Itachi agreed.

* * *

Akiko sprinted to her room to grab her bag which was full of scrolls, weapons and small food items for emergencies. She also grabbed her kunai holster and placed it on her right leg, for she was right handed. She looked at herself with her large brown eyes in the full-body mirror resting itself beside the door.

Akiko was wearing plain, tights black shorts that rested just above her knee. Underneath the pants were fishnet capris which were longer than her pants by a few centimeters. The fishnet leggings rested at the bottom of her knees. Her top was a black simple long-sleeved, loose shirt with a line of red starting from the left collar of her shirt, across her chest and down her right side. She wore black ninja gloves with the regular ninja shoes.

Akiko touched the necklace that was presently resting on her neck. She blinked and remembered when she first received it. The piece of jewelry that she was currently holding was the necklace that all of the Akatsuki had given to her for her fourth birthday. It was a circular charm that consisted of smaller circles around the edges of the charm. The smaller circles consisted of the symbols that all of the Akatsuki members wore on their rings. In the middle of the charm was the red cloud that is proudly shown on all of the members' cloaks. Since Akiko was not officially part of the organization, she doesn't have a cloak or a ring. When she is older and more mature, Pein and Konan decided that she will take a test to see if she is capable of doing higher level missions.

Akiko took a deep breath while checking herself over once again in the mirror. She grabbed her bag, left her room and made her way to Pein and Konan's office. The excited little girl made her way through the vast hallways of the large base; she finally reached the office and knocked on the door. "Daddy? Mommy?"

"Enter." The authoritive voice that Akiko could distinguish from anyone boomed from behind the door. She opened the door and grinned at the orange haired man at the desk.

"Hello, Akiko. Are you leaving now?" he asked with a raised eye brow.

"Yup. They told me to say good-bye to you." Akiko responded while going toward Pein for a farewell hug that she always gave when she left the base.

Konan decided to show up from somewhere else in the room and hug the small girl before she got to Pein. "You're my little girl, so you give me hugs before him." She whispered into Akiko's ear. Konan then turned around and gave a smirk to Pein who rolled his eyes at the woman's behavior. She turned her attention to Akiko and stared into her eyes. "Be sure to listen to Sasori and Itachi, alright? If they tell me you weren't a good girl like I know you are, I won't let you go and train with anyone in the base for the rest of your life. In other words, you're going to be trained by Pein and I."Konan gave an evil grin at Akiko who was shuddering from the memories.

Awhile back, Konan and Pein attempted to train Akiko, but it wasn't a very successful attempt. Both of the leaders got frustrated at the lack of her chakra control and started yelling and scolding her. Living with the loudest and most vulgar ninjas out there, Akiko responded with her own yelling and profanities that she had learned from Hidan. This bickering caused Hidan to join in because Hidan likes to be difficult, but Kakuzu showed up and tried to stop him from looking like more of an idiot than he already was. Kisame popped in from a recent mission and was unhappy because the leaders were yelling at the small girl which caused the shark to be involved as well. This whole episode ended by an annoyed leader who used Shinra Tensai which created a large crater and blew everyone out of the way. The jutsu caused Akiko to have bruises all over her skin which Akiko wasn't very fond of. It also caused Akiko and all of the other members to get scolded at.

Konan raised a brow waiting for her reply. "I will." Akiko promised while hugging Konan back. After a few minutes Konan let go of Akiko and decided to give Pein a chance. The child went to the larger man and threw herself onto him giving him a hug. Pein placed one arm around her waist and whispered. "You're actually my little girl, not Konan's. Remember that, or you won't get any other missions."

Akiko pulled away from the embrace with wide eyes. She nodded her head while Pein smirked at her fear.

"I think you should head out before Sasori chases after you." Konan mumbled hearing the puppets loud protests down at the entrance. Akiko rolled her eyes and pulled away. She walked towards the door and picked up the bag that she threw to the side when she first walked in. Akiko opened the door, stood in the doorframe and looked back and Pein and Konan.

"Bye, mommy and daddy. I love you." She stated and walked away while closing the door. The two leaders looked at each other with smiles that were long gone from Yahiko's disappearance. They both closed their eyes and remembered the happy days with their fallen comrade.

* * *

_As you can tell, this chapter is really short. It's much shorter than I would have hoped, but I wanted to make sure I updated. I like how the chapter ended though. __It's also short because I had a soccer tournament this past weekend and didn't have much time to write because of my laziness and lack of energy :D. Unfortunately, we lost all of our games by a long shot..._

_Anyways, the next chapter is when the mission will finally start. I promise!_


	5. Chapter 5

_I just went through my rarely used e-mail a few days ago and saw all of the people who alerted and favorited this story. Also, thank you Chocoholics unite (Yay for us chocoholics! :D) for reviewing the past few chapters. I was and am a very happy duckling because of you people. I love you all. _

_Enjoy the longer chapter! _

_The status of my possession of Naruto has still not been changed, sadly._

* * *

Two men dressed in black coats walked under the shade given by the large forest near the Akatsuki base. Trailing not far behind them was a young girl with wide curious eyes soaking up all of the nature and small sun that managed to peek through the leaves of the canopy above.

The red headed man underneath his large puppet turned around to check on the small girl. His eyes softened as he watched her smiling about being exposed to this new location.

Akiko has never been far away from the base before. The cause of that is something that will not and shall not be told to her for as long as possible. Akiko would always run away from the base, yet she was too afraid to go farther than the village of Ame which was not very far from the other members. As a young girl, she would ask all the members why she wasn't around younger kids or why she wasn't allowed to leave with them on missions. She would get the same reply which consisted of a grunt and a response along the line of 'You're too young, wait until you're older'.

After many times of asking, she stopped and faked a smile while the members left the base for missions. She finally was able to be the one leaving and saying goodbye to everyone. Although that's not always the fun part, it was exhilarating to Akiko at the least.

They have been walking through the forest nonstop for four hours. Signs of Akiko getting exhausted and hungry were clear, yet she did not complain or whine. Sasori and Itachi both knew that there was a tea shop not far from where they were. They both silently communicated and agreed to stop at the tea shop.

"Akiko, we're going to stop at a tea shop up ahead to let you rest and get some food." Itachi muttered loud enough for Akiko to hear.

Akiko huffed and looked away knowing that they picked up on the signs of when she was tired and needed food. "I'm perfectly capable of going farther."

Itachi stopped walking and turned to look at the girl with a raised eyebrow. She responded by looking away stubbornly and crossing her arms.

"Okay. We're going to have to jump from tree to tree starting now because we need to change direction in case we are being followed. Also, we need to climb that large mountain up ahead of us quickly and efficiently. Meaning you cannot slack, or we'll leave you behind. Did I mention? We have to speed up ten times faster than we are now." Sasori taunted with his low raspy voice while pointing his metal tail to the steep hill in view.

"I think tea would be nice." Akiko fit in before Sasori would continue with how their 'route' was going to be like. Sasori smirked and turned and moved towards the well-known tea shop of the Akatsuki. This shop is on the way to several villages, so this would be often spotted when coming back from a village for a mission. The members would usually avoid going to it too often, as it was too dangerous to be spotted in the same place many times. The thing that confuses the members the most is: What's the tea shop doing in the middle of absolutely nowhere?

The small shop came into focus after they climbed one of the many hills in front of them. From afar it looked like a small house with a large roof above it. The roof was tall and luxurious; it was painted a charcoal black with a gloss finish. The color of the roof complemented the burgundy colored building.

Ahead of the ninja trio was their desired destination. An old lady with gray hair sat at a small wooden bench in front of the entrance and offered them a smile. This lady was always by herself and sitting on the wooden bench just outside for any thirsty customers, yet there aren't much people that take the dirt road to the other villages. Akiko politely returned the senior's gentle smile.

"Table for three." Itachi muttered shielding his eyes with the bamboo hat currently on his head.

The old lady smiled and replied in a raspy voice. "Of course, right this way."

The three of them followed her into the building and sat at the table the lady had directed them towards which was the one closest to the entrance. Sasori stayed behind Akiko, for he was inside of Hiruko and Hiruko wouldn't be able to fit in the seats.

As always, the shop was void of any company other than the owner and the ninjas. Akiko sat on opposite sides from the stoic Itachi. The owner slowly walked up to them and dropped several menus on the wooden table. She then proceeded to leave into what seemed to be a back room in the dimly lit building. Akiko hummed and looked at the single sheet menu. Sasori and Itachi waved it aside, as they were only stopping for Akiko's sake. They were used to not eating for a full day. Also, Sasori is a puppet; therefore he is not required to eat any nutrients of the sort.

"I want dango, please." Akiko concluded after a few minutes of looking at the small list of food.

"This is going to be our final stop at a restaurant of any sort in a time frame of two days. Do you want anything on the go?" Itachi asked with a low voice, eyes still shielded from the outside world.

"It's okay; daddy and mommy gave me snacks just in case." Akiko responded. Itachi nodded his head and cleared his throat loudly. In just a few seconds, the old lady reappeared with a smile plastered on her wrinkled and aged face.

"Yes?" She asked.

"One dango, please." Itachi responded. She continued smiling and nodded her head.

Once again, she disappeared, but instead of staying in the back room she came back in a godly speed. Akiko glanced at Itachi and noticed his eyes were hardened and he looked confused and stiff. Because of seeing him in dismay, it worried Akiko a lot. If one of the most stoic people she knew is beginning to show nerves, it must mean that there's a threat close by. She started looking around curiously and she was trying to focus on the thing that was bothering the missing nin.

The lady of the shop placed a dango on top of a simple black plate and yet again made her way to the room. Only this time, she didn't go into a room she just sat at a table with her back towards the group. Akiko picked up the dango and ate it swiftly, for Itachi who was in front of her looked jittery and wanted to leave immediately. Acting like she didn't notice he was worried, she placed a bright smile on her face. "I'm finished."

Itachi grunted showing that she heard her and placed a few yen on the table. The two stood up at the same time and left as quickly as they came in. Visibly, they looked relaxed, but still looked more alert than usual.

"We have to speed up; in place for the time we wasted there." The ex-Konoha ninja stated. "And Sasori wasn't kidding when he said we have to move around in case there are any followers." The three of them started jumping from tree to tree. The aura around both Itachi and Sasori was different as to what they usually were. Akiko was still confused, yet she did not pester them. After a couple minutes Akiko noticed they were still tense. She opened her mouth to ask about why they were worried, but was cut off by the Uchiha. "I need to take care of some business for a second, go on without me." He looked at Sasori for a brief moment and blinked twice.

With that gesture, he left. Sasori urged her to keep the fast pace. Akiko complied and continued from jumped from tree to tree. They were currently running in silence, but Akiko's curiosity and worry finally came about. "Where did Itachi go?"

Sasori instantly replied. "He wanted to check something."

"Sasori." Akiko stopped on a branch and looked pleadingly at the scorpion puppet. He also stopped but did not turn his body to face the girl. "Don't lie to me. Where did Itachi go?"

"I don't have the patience right now, Akiko. I am speaking the truth; he saw something suspicious and checked it out. He will be back soon" Sasori snapped harshly. The child was taken back at the fierceness of his words. She opened her mouth to reply, but Sasori started to jump on trees once again. Not wanting to be left behind in the forest, Akiko followed with her mind clouded with feeling of confusion, hurt, worry and curiosity.

* * *

Itachi ran towards the shop that he, Sasori and Akiko had just left. The old lady's aura and movements were different and seemed controlled. He also noticed, the lady was paying an awful lot of attention to Akiko. His sharingan was currently activated and was scouting the area around him. He created a clone to wait for the pursuers that he had felt following them and possibly interrogate them. He used his real body to jump from tree to tree and asses the situation. A total of five pursuers were heading straight towards his clone.

In a few seconds, they cornered his clone in a small circular clearing that was covered by trees above. They all wore masks that were strikingly close to what the Konoha ANBU wore. As for their attire, they wore black cloaks that covered their full body.

"Uchiha Itachi, the missing nin of Konoha. Where was the small girl that you were with? Tell us, or we will end your life!" One of them demanded, muffled because of the mask.

He could tell by the person's voice, that he was nervous and jittery. The 'leader' of the group bravely ran towards Itachi with a sword in his right hand intent on stabbing Itachi in the chest. Itachi swiftly moved aside, avoiding the attacker and kicked him in the back of the leg with much force. He screamed in agony and fell to the ground clutching his damaged leg. The others around him gasped while one of them behind him attempted to use a genjutsu and another threw two kunai directly towards his person. Itachi canceled out the weak genjutsu immediately. When the kunai was thrown, he turned and caught them both on his middle and index finger. He used those kunai and threw them back at the stomachs of the recent attackers. 'Itachi' stared at the two standing blankly and grabbed a kunai from his holster. He used the kunai and held it against the closest one standing beside him.

The last person gasped and stopped mid-way to grabbing weapons of his own while the one being held hostage squirmed. By the sound of the protests and grunts, the clone had concluded it to be a female. Wanting to interrogate the last person, he held his position and slowly drew the kunai closer to the flesh of the woman.

"W-wait." The last of them stammered nervously.

Itachi's eyes narrowed slightly. At the beginning of the fight, he immediately noticed that the people who surrounded him were ninjas of low experience. He inwardly cringed and felt disgusted at who sent these ninjas of low experience to fight the Akatsuki. They were simply pawns going towards their own death.

"Why are you following us and who sent you to do so? Also, who is the old lady at that tea shop?" Itachi demanded.

"O-Orochimaru-sama sent us, it was our orders to eliminate you and capture the small girl who was with you. A-as for the old lady, I have no idea what you're talking about. Please release Kiri-san and spare all of our lives." He begged. Itachi kept an impassive face. He concluded on just knocking out him and the woman he held as hostage, for he pitied their lives.

"Tell anyone about this encounter, and your lives will no longer exist." Itachi warned the conscious one of the group. Itachi's clone then dispersed into a flock of black crows.

The clone's memories then distributed itself into Itachi's. Itachi furrowed his brows slightly and increased his speed. If his predictions were correct, Orochimaru would be waiting for him outside the tea shop. In a quick moment, he was able to reach the tea shop. He stayed silent and took in the surroundings. All he could hear was the leaves being ruffled because of the soft wind that brushed itself onto the earth. He couldn't find any chakra signatures around him, so he slowly but carefully stalked towards the entrance.

A small noise of a snake was heard behind him and he snapped his head towards that main direction. His jaw locked and he stared at the person grinning towards his figure. "Hello, Itachi-kun. It's been a while, ne?"

The one standing in front of him was none other than the feared, legendary sanin, Orochimaru.

* * *

_Cue pedophile snake._

_Anywho, read and review for me please (: and thank you again to those who do read my story. By the way, I am planning to update AT LEAST every week. So, look out for the updates._


	6. Chapter 6

_I'm sorry for not updating. I'm a terrible person, I know._

_I don't own Naruto._

* * *

"Orochimaru." Itachi hissed through his teeth like his name was acid on his tongue.

Orochimaru acted like he was taken aback by the Uchiha's harsh tone. He sarcastically shook his head and sighed. "Is that how you speak to someone you haven't seen in a while? Itachi-kun, you have grown rude. I am disappointed."

"What do you want?" Itachi replied. He was holding an impassive expression while Orochimaru was smiling.

"Nothing much, I'm just looking around." He said in a taunting like voice. "Though, that small girl you were with caught my interest."

Itachi stared. "Why?"

"Why? Well, I'm pretty sure you know why, Itachi-kun." Orochimaru replied while snakes surrounded his body. Itachi continued to stare; he slightly twitched his finger towards his kunai holster.

"No need for a fight." Orochimaru simply smirked and turned his back. "As I said, Itachi-kun, I'm just looking around."

With that, snakes surrounded his person and he disappeared from sight. Itachi clicked his tongue in annoyance and kept his impassive face. He scouted the area with a hand sign of concentration and closed eyes, searching for any threats that may be around him. He couldn't pick up any strong signatures, so he turned around and made his way to the puppet and the worried little girl.

* * *

Sasori and Akiko had been running in silence ever since Itachi left.. Akiko's mind was drifted as to where Itachi had gone. While they ran through the trees, she stared at the ground. Sasori noticed this clearly and he worriedly glanced at her underneath his puppet, but he didn't want to stop the current pace they were moving. He kept his sight forward and continued; he quietly scouted the area around the two. He noticed that the pursers were gone and the overwhelming chakra signature that seemed like Orochimaru's was gone as well. While scouting, he realized Itachi was making his way back. Sasori stopped in his tracks which surprised the little girl, for she was only staring at the ground, not what was ahead of her.

"S-Sasori, why did you stop?" she asked looking around cautiously. He pointed his metal tail to the space behind her; she suddenly turned around and noticed that a man with dark hair dressed in a cloak was running towards them. Her eyes brightened and she grinned, but this quickly faded and she looked away.

"Akiko?" Itachi asked with worry. Whenever he was gone, rather whenever anyone from the base disappeared from her sight, she would glomp them with affection when they were in her vision. She nervously kicked her shoe on a tree branch in response. Itachi glared at Sasori, in which he responded by rolling his eyes. Itachi jumped to the branch Akiko was on and he crouched to her eye level. "What happened?"

She looked up and stared into his dark eyes. "Itachi, you'll tell me the truth right?"

Itachi responded. "Of course."

She blinked and stayed quiet for a moment, but spoke up. "Why did you leave? And don't tell me it's because you wanted to check something, you knew it was there, but what was it?"

Itachi took a deep breath and looked into her curious eyes. "I felt the chakra signature of someone who is dangerous and who has been a problem towards our organization recently. Because of the major threat, I wanted to go alone in case it was a trap."

"Who's this person that's been a problem to the Akatsuki?" Akiko asked curiously with her head tilted to the side. Itachi began to speak until Sasori interrupted by jumping to the branch and nudging her. She glared at him and pouted.

"Don't trouble yourself with such questions. We should start to run at a faster pace, for we have wasted too much time. Leader will not be please if we are two days late." Sasori announced while beginning to run once more.

Akiko huffed and grumbled. "Daddy won't care; you're the impatient one here, puppet."

"I heard that." He grunted.

"Just be glad she didn't include any of the profanities that she has learned from Hidan." Itachi pointed out and started to run behind Sasori. Akiko started running as well, trailing not far behind.

* * *

After a long period of non-stop running, Akiko was starting to get bored of seeing trees flashing beside her. Although, she enjoyed the breeze that swept by her porcelain face.

"Sasori?" Akiko randomly called out. Sasori tilted his head back to look at her.

"Why do you and Dei fight about art?" She asked.

Sasori looked at her for a moment then directed his gaze forwards. "That's a random question, why do you ask?"

"Curious." Akiko told.

"The idiot and I have some rather… strong opinions on how art should be. He does not understand that art should be eternal." He lazily responded growling a bit at the last statement.

Akiko furrowed her brows. "Have you ever considered that you don't understand his point of view?"

"I have considered that, and my conclusion was that he is an idiot." Sasori answered, anger seeping through his teeth. During this, Itachi was amused at Sasori's stubbornness and his hypocrisy. Akiko feeling the need to rile up the puppet responded with a taunting voice. "Well, _I _think Dei is right, and you're the wrong one. Art is a bang!"

Sasori stopped and released a deadly aura that surrounded his body. Both Akiko and Itachi stopped behind him waiting for him to flip out. His head slowly turned back to glare with utmost hate at the small child. "I'm sorry; I don't think I heard you right. What did you just say?"

"I said that art is a bang! Dei is right and you're wrong!" she repeated while returning his smile with a smile of her own. Sasori launched his body towards the young girl smirking. Itachi moved in front of her swiftly with his sharingan activated. Sasori stopped and glared. From behind Itachi, Akiko was grinning and sticking her tongue out teasingly.

"Move, Itachi." The angry red-head growled.

"You will not harm Akiko." Itachi simply stated.

"I'm sorry, Sasori. It's fun making you angry." Akiko smiled and hugged Itachi on his side. "Thank you, Tachi. You're the best." He responded by patting her head and slightly smiling back.

"Art is eternal." Sasori hissed under his breath.

"Whatever makes you happy, Sasori." Akiko chimed.

* * *

_Short chapter and late update... Man, I suck. _

_On the bright side, school is almost over, so there will be more updates. Additionally, this chapter was more of a filler, rather than being highly detrimental to the plot. I kinda had writers block, but it's now cured. _

_Read and Review, If you'd like. :)_


	7. Chapter 7

_Exams are coming up in school. In other words, I just want to warn anyone who's reading this that updates might be slower than they already were, but i'll try my best :)_

_I don't own Naruto~_

* * *

After three long days of running, the ninja trio had finally made it to their destination. The village they were acquiring their goods from was very small. It was evident that the residents were poverty stricken, as there were many people on the streets with tattered clothes and hopeless faces.

Walking into the village, the leader of the group was Sasori underneath his wooden puppet. Following not far behind him was Akiko soaking up how the village looked like and was different from Ame. Itachi was beside Akiko with hardened eyes that were covered by his bamboo hat.

When they walked into the entrance many of the villagers glared or avoided them. Among this small village, rumors were often spread quickly. People dressed in cloaks that were black and red were a sign of danger and death. However, Akiko was unaware of this and was confused of the looks that were given towards her and the people that she considers family. Her brows furrowed and watched as a young girl with piercing blue eyes that was holding what seemed to be her mother's hand glare at her person with immense hate that made her shiver. Akiko noticed that both of the ex-nins were walking with high heads and confidence. It seemed like the people's hateful glare was non-existent to them. She was still feeling uneasy about her surroundings and nervously looked at the people on the sides of the roads, yet she kept a straight face exactly like Itachi and Sasori were doing.

The village was comprised of wooden beaten down huts and skinny adults and children. There were small stalls that had perished fruits being sold. The official shops that were in actual buildings were empty and seemed scarce of any material. Children were often seen running on the sidelines while being chased by angry shopkeepers.

The homes were made out of wood and rags were used as roofs and doors. They were poorly made and looked like it could topple in extreme weather conditions. The village Akiko was used to was not worn down and beat up as this was. In fact, it was extremely luxurious compared to this town. Except the weather of each village are completely contrasting. This village was in blistering heat while Ame was humid and saturated.

They continued their venture through the worn down village. When their destination was found, Sasori stopped in front of Akiko while Itachi did as well. In front of them was the finest looking building in the village. It was made of the same broken down wood, yet it was tall, had a proper roof and a full door on its hinges.

Sasori used his metal tail to knock on the door of the building. A slide on the door opened to a person's strikingly beautiful white eyes. He narrowed his eyes at first, but then widened when his eyes landed on Sasori.

"Sasori-sama and Itachi-sama." the person muttered.

"Blossoms are the way of demise. Culpable, you are with your own direction. Be not pretentious, otherwise all will fold." Itachi randomly said after the man behind the door addressed the two Akatsuki members. Akiko looked up at Itachi with a questioning look confused as to what Itachi had just stated. Itachi responded by ignoring her and simply staring straight ahead.

Suddenly, the man closed the slide, but followed by the turn of the doorknob. He opened the door slightly to reveal his eye yet again. He stepped back and opened the door so that they could fit in, but it was not open to its full extent. Itachi walked in first while Sasori nudged Akiko to go through the door. Akiko complied and went through.

When Akiko entered the worn out hut, her eyes widened as she gaped. The inside was completely different to the appearance outside. When she first walked in she saw a beautiful crystalized chandelier that hung on the somewhat low roof of the home. The dark marble floors reflected the light coming off of the chandelier and brightened up the entrance. Akiko, still gaping at the luxury that was foreign to her eyes, didn't notice Sasori was currently behind her. He lightly poked her with his tail which caused her to jump in fear. Akiko turned around to glare at the one who interrupted her thoughts, but no one was standing beside her. All she was Sasori moving towards a door that was intricately decorated with flowers.

Akiko started to follow, but was stopped by the man who had let them in. He was wearing a black formal outfit while ninja shoes adorned his feet, making him look unstylish and goofy. His gray hair hung right above his eyes that were currently glaring at Akiko. She was confused, yet she kept her face impassive, as everyone at the base taught her to do so.

"Who are you?" The man spat taking a kunai from under his jacket. Akiko jumped back hastily to avoid the metal craving for her blood in the man's hand. Itachi stood in front of Akiko with red eyes.

"She is with us; she is here to help with our mission." Itachi muttered but then locked his jaw. "Raine, I would like you to know, I do not condone the behavior of someone trying to kill an innocent small child."

The man froze in fear and fell to one knee while his left arm rested on top of his heart. "I am truly sorry, Itachi-sama. Forgive my idiocy."

He glared at the offender and protectively wrapped his arm around Akikos small shoulders. Sasori glared at the man who was begging for forgiveness and was contemplating on ending his life for trying to kill Akiko.

"Sasori," Itachi stated pulling him away from his contemplations. "Leave him be."

Sasori made a noise of annoyance and continued to move towards a door. The door was large and a pretty color of blue. Along the edges were white floral patterns that accented the blue very nicely. Itachi opened the door and walked inside. Following not far behind them, was the one who had just opened the door. He took his place at the entrance while Sasori, Itachi and Akiko stood in front of the large wooden desk inside of the room. Currently, at the desk a man with black slicked hair was carelessly smoking a pipe while his feet were propped up. He wore exactly what Raine wore except his suit was much dressier and looked expensive. Instead of ninja shoes, he wore black lustrous shoes.

He took his feet off the desk and replaced it with his elbows. He looked at the last person in the room with raised eyebrows. He replied by closing his eyes and nodding. The pale-skinned black haired man now looked at the three people who stood in front of him.

"Itachi-san, Sasori-san and..." he addressed the two people but stopped at Akiko. "…Girl-chan, I've never seen your small pretty face before."

"Cross." Sasori interrupted the conversation. Itachi kept close to Akiko while keeping an eye on Cross and the person standing near the door.

Itachi muttered "Cross, she is a part of this mission and important to the organization. If you so lay a hand on her, I will not hesitate to end your life."

The man chuckled seeming unwearied by his threat. "Sorry, Itachi-san. I was just trying to be polite." He sighed then placed his cigarette in an ash tray. His hands joined together in front of his face while he leaned on his elbows. He questioned, "What is Pein-sama in need of today?"

"I need the poison and Pein is in need of the weapons that he ordered" Sasori replied.

"Ah! That's right," Cross exclaimed "silly me, I forgot about that order."

He gestured to the guard at the door and snapped his fingers " Raine-chan would you go get Sasori-san's poison and the weapons in the back room, please." the man at the door bowed and complied to Cross's wishes.

The three were left in the room with the dark haired, pale skinned man. The room was now stuck in a thick silence. The one at the desk just smiled while Sasori and Itachi kept their impassive face. Akiko was confused of the tension of the room. She shot looks at both the man and the two angry looking Akatsuki members. The man met her gaze and continued to smile then asked. "I still do not know your name, blossom."

Sasori stiffened but didn't make a move. Itachi slightly shifted his weight, but acted similar to Sasori.

"My name's Akiko." the little girl muttered going behind Itachi's person.

"Is it?" Cross asked with a raised brow. Akiko noticed again that the two shifted. She could not see their faces or reactions to what he said, for she was hidden behind Itachi. She stood dumbfounded.

Cross looked at both Itachi and Sasori before he looked at Akiko once again. "That's a very pretty name. My name is Cross Sadao. Many people refer to me as Cross, but you can call me whatever you'd like. Would it be alright if I called you blossom?"

Akiko slowly nodded unsure of what to reply. At this point in time the servant had returned with two scrolls in each gloved hand. He walked past the people like they weren't present and handed it to his leader with a bow.

"Thank you, Raine-chan. If you'd like, you may leave." he replied happily, matching the fake smile plastered on his face.

His servant hesitated for a minute then muttered "I'd rather you not stay alone with these… people."

Cross blinked and shrugged but said in a quiet voice that was still audible to the three. "Whatever makes you happy, but you do know I am capable of myself, correct?"

Raine nodded stiffly, bowed once again and went back to his original place.

"Is that all you need Sasori-San?" Sadao asked. Sasori nodded his wooden head then made his leave. He turned to Itachi whom was still in the room. "Are you sure you're not in need of anything Itachi?"

Itachi turned his back and grunted. "Hn."

Akiko didn't want to get left behind so she hurried after Itachi. Before she was out the door, Cross was behind her with a hand on her shoulder. "Blossom, if you decide to run away from those vile criminals, I am always available. Remember, the Akatsuki aren't the people you should be affiliated with. Also, Itachi isn't the only Uchiha that you should watch out for."

He lifted his hand off her shoulder while she ran out the door with the warnings from Sadao plastered in her head.

* * *

_Review?_


	8. Chapter 8

_Sad enough to say, I don't own Naruto. You should probably be thankful that I don't..._

* * *

'What the hell was that guy talking about?' Akiko thought. They exited the mansion like house and left the small village. They began their journey in the forest going towards the base. Akiko was trailing behind while she stared at the bark on the trees they were running on. Itachi watched her at the corner of his eye.

"Akiko?" Itachi murmured to her with slight concern. Surprisingly to Itachi, she didn't reply. Itachi jumped closer to her and tried again. "Akiko..."

This made her jump and look away from the ground to the apprehensive Uchiha. She turned her head to fake smile at Itachi. "Yeah, Tachi?"

He raised his eyebrow at the fake smile that tainted her face. Then he questioned, "What's wrong?"

" Nothing's wrong..." She trailed off while she began to stare at the ground once again.

This caused Sasori to join in the conversation. "What happened to you being nonchalant and presumptuous?"

"hmm...?" she hummed not looking at either of them.

Itachi and Sasori looked at each other from over her head. They both shrugged and came to a complete stop. Akiko, being caught up in her head, didn't notice and kept going. From behind her, she heard a clear of someone's throat. She stopped and tensed, going into a fighting stance. She turned and saw Itachi and Sasori standing.

"Why are you stopping?" Akiko asked with a scowl.

"Why are you oblivious?" Sasori responded.

"What are you talking about?" She shot. "I'm completely fine."

They looked at her with a blank stare while she attempted to look back, but failed and looked down. Itachi jumped to the branch that she situated herself on.

"Akiko, there is no possible way for you to fool us." Itachi said while putting his hand on her head.

She shook his hand off and gave him a cold stare. "Nothing's wrong, really. Now let's get going before my daddy will start yelling at us."

"Weren't you the one to say 'daddy won't mind, you're the impatient one here, puppet." Sasori added in while trying to mock her voice with his husky low one. Akiko sighed and started to run through the trees once more. Sasori and Itachi rolled their eyes and sighed. They had decided to stop pestering her and give her space. They followed from behind watching her back; while she ran through the trees, biting her lip in contemplation.

* * *

They had quickly arrived at the base, for they were running through the trees for the entirety of the trip. The trio had been stuck in a thick-silence ever since they had left the village where they grabbed their supplies from. They had encountered nothing during the way back, except for non-threatening thugs and bandits. Akiko was still trying to decode what Cross was saying, but she wasn't successful. She had been very unresponsive to both Sasori and Itachi. Akiko only grunted or answered with a very scarce amount of words. Other than that, she would stare at the ground or look at something with her eye brows close together. If they were to ask of her problems, she would wave it off and respond with 'I'm fine'.

Once they were inside the entrance, Akiko mumbled. "I'll go unpack…"

Sasori and Itachi stood there still dumfounded as to why she was so unresponsive. Itachi muttered. "I'll report to Pein, where is his scroll?"

Sasori coughed it up and out of his puppet, and dropped it on the floor. Itachi picked up the scroll that the puppet had just spit up and turned his back towards Pein's office. Sasori also parted into his room.

Itachi had been thoroughly confused as to what Akiko was upset about. His guess was the incident with Raine, but it didn't make much sense to him. He had concluded to tell Konan and she will deal with the small girl. He lightly tapped on the door and a muffled 'come in' was heard, as usual. Itachi walked in, stood in front of Pein's desk and slightly bowed his head.

"Itachi, I'm guessing the mission was problem free?" Pein questioned while Konan was curiously looking at him, probably wondering why Akiko wasn't with him.

"You would be incorrect in that sense, Pein-sama." Itachi blinked. Pein stiffened and Konan furrowed her brows and her eyes widened hardly. Konan then worriedly asked. "Where's Akiko? Is she hurt?"

Itachi turned his direction to her and shook his head. "She is physically fine. However, she hasn't been responding much to either Sasori or I. She had retreated back to her room when we first arrived."

Konan took in that information nodded and left immediately. Itachi sighed knowing that would be the outcome. Pein watched Konan's back as she fled the room. He returned his gaze to Itachi.

"What exactly happened?" Pein asked with narrowed eyes while his hands were joined together underneath his nose.

"When we met up with Sadao, his servant, Raine, accidentally thought of Akiko as an enemy or an intruder. Because of that, he pulled out a kunai and attempted to slash at her." Itachi answered. When Itachi felt the deathly aura coming from Pein, he quickly reassured. "Akiko did not get cut, for she was fast enough to avoid the blow. And that is my only guess as to why she's upset, but it doesn't make much sense for her not to converse with us." Itachi replied. Pein grunted in response. They sat in silence for a moment as Pein was taking in the new information. Itachi had decided to tell Pein of the Orochimaru incident as well.

"We had also encountered Orochimaru." Itachi mentioned.

Pein closed his eyes and sighed, once he reopened them he murmured. "How did that happen?"

"Nobody was hurt, and Akiko did not come in contact with him." Itachi pointed out. "We stopped at a tea shop in order to get something for Akiko. Once we were there, the one who had been serving us had a strong chakra and it seemed familiar. Sasori and I both noticed that it was Orochimaru's, but we did not want to startle Akiko into forcing her to leave. Although, Akiko seemed like she picked up on our restlessness, so she quickly finished her meal. We immediately left and started to run. After fleeing from the shop, a total of five pursuers were on our trail. This is when I decided to part and that is when I met up with Orochimaru at the coffee shop."

Pein closed his ringed eyes once again and spoke. "What did he want?"

"Nothing in particular, he claimed he was just looking around." Itachi used his free hand and ran it through his dark locks. He blinked and waited for further orders.

* * *

Konan hurriedly ran through the hallway the little girl was said to be located in. Once she reached the desired door she knocked. "Akiko?"

Konan stood and waited for any sound or movement to assure her Akiko was presently in the room. When she heard nothing, she once again knocked on the door and lightly pressed her right ear against it.

"Akiko?" She repeated. Hearing nothing, she became worried, took her ear off the door and opened it. Konan expected Akiko to be lying on her bed facing the ceiling like she always does when she is upset or something is on her mind. Her expectations were wrong, however. The room was empty and scarce of any little girl.

Scrolls were neatly stacked on her desk with the lamp dimly turned on. Her weapons and clothes were strewn over her bed. Konan became more worried than she already was and started looking in other places in the room she could have hidden in.

After searching all the possible places, Konan frowned not being able to find Akiko. Then she spotted something on the desk, but what caught Konan's attention was not the person she was looking for, it was the colored card currently on the desk.

* * *

"Thank you, Itachi, for the missions report." Pein concluded. "You may take your leave now."

Itachi nodded in response and turned his back to Pein to exit his office. When Itachi turned the knob and opened the door, his large blue partner was standing with epecting eyes that stared at his darker ones. Itachi decided to ignore him and closed the door behind him. Kisame then made a face of confusion.

"Where's Akiko?" Kisame asked with mild worry.

"She's in her room." Itachi simply walked passed him and into his own room. Kisame stared after him with a dumbfounded expression and sighed. During this time, Hidan was also walking through the hallway towards the room of his own to grab his scythe to sacrifice people to Jashin.

"The hell you doing standing here, shark boy?" Hidan questioned while punching his shoulder.

Kisame ignored the troublesome nickname given by the silver-haired man and gave him a question of his own. "Have you seen Akiko anywhere?"

"She's not supposed to arrive yet, you dumbass." Hidan answered.

"Is that right? I guess that's why Itachi and Sasori are in the base." Kisame sarcastically responded.

Hidan took a minute to register the statement and scowled. "How does the fu-…"

Kisame gave him a deadpan expression while Hidan started to process the meaning behind the shark's words. Once he fully registered it into his brain, Hidan raised an eyebrow and informed. "She hasn't said shit to anyone else in the base. Where the hell is she?"

"That was my point, you dumbass." Kisame said, repeating the nickname he used on him.

"Don't fucking 'dumbass' me, you fish fuck. I don't keep radar on the puppet and Uchiha." Hidan retorted angrily.

"Sasori walked right passed you in the living room, but you were too busy bitching at Kakuzu about new clothes."

"Hey! That's not my fucking fault, he was being a dick."

"At least he has some sort of dick."

"You know what? Fuck you."

Kisame chuckled and opened his mouth to rile the Jashinist more than he already was, but was interrupted by a pissed off Pein.

"Either you both stop talking, or I come out there and kill you both." Pein called from behind his door. They both froze and started to carefully walk away from the door.

"I'm going to check and see if Akiko's in her room." Kisame sighed after they were a safe distance away from Pein.

Hidan contemplated on what to do, but curiosity drove him to go with Kisame. They arrived at the room and slightly knocked. When they knocked, the door opened to reveal an empty room with clothing and weapons situating themselves on the bed. Hidan looked around the room to check if she was hiding and found nothing of the sort. Kisame scowled and closed his eyes in concentration. He then found the chakra signature of Konan and the slight chakra signature of Akiko.

* * *

_This took me awhile to update... Sorry about that, but s__chool's out and exams are over, meaning I'll have more time to update. But there's still soccer season, just a heads up._

_If you're wondering, Akiko has a faint chakra signature because of her young age. That is why they don't resort to finding her via. chakra signature. Although, she can be found with it if she isn't very far from the base. _

_Read & Review, please and thanks :)_


	9. Chapter 9

_ I don't own Naruto D:_

* * *

Konan sighed contently when she found Akiko sitting on the edge of a cliff watching the sun that was now setting. She silently walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm glad you actually used the card this time."

Akiko tensed and looked up; when she saw Konan she averted her gaze. Konan hardened her lips and sat beside Akiko.

"Are you going to tell me, or am I going to force it out of you?" Konan asked ruffling Akiko's hair in the process.

Akiko shot a glare at Konan when she rumpled her hair. Akiko quickly put it back in place and sighed. "What am I supposed to tell you?"

Konan raised a brow at her. "Why are you acting so sad and depressed?"

"I'm not sad and depressed, though." Akiko blinked. Konan rolled her eyes and stared at the multi-colored sky. A light breeze touched the faces of the two and they both sighed, happy of the cool air. Akiko closed her eyes and leaned her head against Konan's shoulder. Konan smiled at her and started to stroke her brown locks.

"If you're not sad and depressed, tell me what's on your mind. Or what's been bothering you." Konan quietly asked, still petting her head.

"Well, Cross told me stuff that I don't understand." Akiko muttered and opened her eyes.

Konan raised a brow. "What exactly is this 'stuff' that he told you? Maybe I can help decipher it."

"He told me the Akatsuki were bad people, in which I shouldn't be affiliated with them," Akiko coughed nervously and started to bite her thumbnail. "but I don't know why he said that because you are all good."

"That's interesting…" Konan stopped brushing through Akiko's hair for a moment then continued. She asked, "What if we were bad people, though?"

Akiko scowled and lifted her head off of Konan's shoulder and looked directly into Konan's eyes. "You're not bad people, I know that."

"Are you sure on that?" Konan replied.

"Of course I am!"

"Then why is this bothering you so much?"

This made Akiko stop in her tracks. It wasn't the fact that Sadao told her they were criminals. It was more on the fact of the 'other Uchiha' he was warning her about. She decided to keep this to herself and smiled brightly. "I don't know. Why am I bothered by it? I love you all either way."

"You're precious." Konan smirked. While she was internally happy of Akiko's statement, she was still worried it would backfire. Words are very easy to say, but actions are much harder to accomplish.

"Maybe when you're older I'll tell you more on that subject." Konan said under her breath.

Akiko tilted her head. "What subject?"

"You'll see, but for n-"

"Akiko," a voice behind them called. Akiko's eyes brightened recognizing the voice. She stood and ran at Kisame, she successfully winded him causing him to stumble and fall.

"Why do you greet the stupid shark before me? You little asshole." Hidan muttered not far behind of Kisame. Akiko got up and ran with the same amount of force, this also took Hidan off guard and they fell to the ground as well.

"Fuck that hurt!" Hidan whined clutching his stomach. Akiko got up and tilted her head. At this moment in time, Kisame had recovered from the sudden hug and walked over to her. He placed his large hand on top of her head which caused her to look up.

"So, how was the first mission?" Kisame joyfully asked.

"It was fun!" Akiko exclaimed "It's much better than always staying at the base."

"Bitch, please. After the leader makes you go on a shitload amount of missions, you will cherish all the moments you have in the base." Hidan said while dusting off the dirt that made its way onto his pants. Konan walked up to Hidan and smacked him upside the head.

"Keep your profanities to a minimum, idiot." Konan growled. Hidan responded by flicking her off, but she ignored it and went back to Akiko.

"I have to go for a small mission now, see you later." Konan said sweetly and kissed her forehead. She backed away from her and smiled while Akiko grinned. Konan then disappeared in a tornado of loose papers.

"Why didn't you come greet us earlier, kid?" Kisame wondered while taking the spot that Konan was originally in. Akiko also had returned to her spot after she attacked the two Akatsuki members.

Akiko smiled and looked at the sun that was almost completely gone. "I had stuff on my mind, but Konan helped, so it's okay now."

"Better fucking be, I hate having depressing idiots around me all the time," Hidan murmured "I'll kill the puppet and Uchiha if they were the cause of you being sad."

Akiko shook her head. "I wasn't sad, just confused, and Sasori and Itachi had no part in it. If you hurt them, I'll kill you."

Kisame chuckled at the silver-haired mans expense while Hidan was muttering incoherent things under his breath. Akiko smirked and patted his leg soothingly as he was just standing behind herself and Kisame, "I was kidding Hidan."

"Tch," Hidan grunted and turned to leave "I'm going to do my ritual, peace out bitches."

Kisame threw a kunai that imbedded itself into his left calf. This caused Hidan to turn around and glare at Kisame. Kisame blinked innocently and said "Konan-sama told you to stop swearing."

Hidan fumed and pulled the kunai out of his leg, he launched it at Kisame immediately, but Kisame dodged it by simply ducking. Akiko was giggling at both of them during their little play fight. Hidan, however, was not very pleased by getting stabbed in the leg with a kunai, so he stalked to Kisame with a very murderous intent surrounding his figure.

"Leader wants to hold a meeting, un."

The three turned around and saw a blonde man standing with a raised eyebrow. Akiko grinned and ran at Deidara. Deidara, being smart, knew what was coming and braced himself for the impact.

"Dei!" Akiko enthusiastically said.

"Hey, un." Deidara replied while hugging her back. "I heard you weren't speaking to Danna, yeah."

"I had a few things on my mind, but it's all better now."

"That's good, hmm." Deidara smirked and tried to place a hand on her head, but Akiko dodged, not wanting to be licked by his other mouths. Deidara chuckled and then focused his gaze on the other two who were making their way to him. "Pein-sama's holding a meeting that you both must attend, un."

"Heard you the first time, bitch." Hidan snapped, angry because his ritual has been postponed once again. In return, Deidara just rolled his eyes.

"I wanna stay here and watch the sunset." Akiko pleaded, for she didn't like meetings because Pein would go on for hours about stuff she didn't know.

Kisame looked at Deidara, "Is Zetsu attending the meeting?"

"No." Deidara confirmed and glanced at Akiko "You can stay out here, but come back in when it's dark, yeah. Also, don't go far, un."

Akiko grinned and nodded her head happily.

* * *

"So, what the hell is this meeting about?" Hidan whined for the umpteenth time.

"How about you wait until Pein-sama explains it." Sasori mumbled while fumbling with his finger that that seemed to be off its hinges.

"Shut the fuck up, puppet. When have you been patient?" Hidan snapped. He then slouched in his chair and sighed. "We've been here forever, dammit. I don't see the shitty leader anywhere."

"Hidan, it's been 5 minutes since this meeting was called, so shut up and stop whining before I kill you." Kakuzu growled while shifting his pale green eyes to Hidan.

Hidan retuned his gaze with a glare. "I need to do my damn ritual, fuck off."

The stoic members around the table just rolled their eyes and waited patiently. After another 5 minutes of Hidan's bitching and complaining, Pein arrived in the room. His arrival caused Hidan to stop talking and all the members to put all of their attention on the orange-haired leader.

"Took you fucking long enough, asshole" Hidan growled. Pein glared at Hidan with such intensity that it made the once cocky Jashinist become submissive. After his death aura was unleashed, Pein sat at the head of the large oval shaped table.

"We're here to talk about capturing the Jinchūriki," Pein started "As we all know, Kisame and Itachi were unable to capture the Kyūbi because they were stopped by some Konoha shinobi who were well aware of their identities. Because of this, the other villages have become aware of our presence as well. We are postponing the Jinchūriki capture 4 years from now."

"Why so long?" Sasori asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It will give us time to build up our resources and spy on some of the villages. Also, we'd be able to train Akiko into going in missions which she will be highly useful." Pein replied. At the mention of Akiko going into missions the Akatsuki hardened their eyes.

Kisame felt the need to speak up and faced Pein. "Are you really letting Akiko go on Jinchūriki missions when she is older? Isn't that too dangerous for her?"

Pein returned his gaze. "She is a part of the Akatuski, therefore she must do the missions she is assigned."

"She took her first damn simple mission and came back not speaking to anyone, and you're talking about her taking fucking Jinchūriki missions? What the fuck?" Hidan said angrily while standing from his seat.

"I was 7 when I graduated from the academy and promoted as Chūnin at the age of 10" Itachi pointed out monotonously.

"She's not a shitty Uchiha." Hidan growled and walked to where the exit was. "You're all fucking idiots." With that, he left the meeting area. Even though some of the Akatsuki didn't voice their agreement, they saw the truth in his words. Itachi closed his eyes and sighed. He was also one of the people who disagreed on Akiko going on missions. She had reminded him very much of his little brother and wanted to protect her as much as possible; something that he couldn't do with his sibling.

The room was stuck in a thick silence while Pein stared at the door Hidan had just left out of. Kisame looked at Itachi from the corner of his eye. The shark knew that Itachi wouldn't agree with Akiko going into such dangerous missions, yet he didn't understand why he had to point out his age of becoming a ninja. To him, it sounded like Itachi was agreeing.

"In the next four years we will conceal ourselves and keep as low as possible. After that time, we will show the ninja world our pain." Pein muttered quietly. "This meeting is over."

Pein disappeared in a gust of wind while the other members sat for a minute. Once the words registered into their heads, they all made their way to leave the room. Outside of the meeting room, Akiko was sitting patiently and waiting for the members to disperse. She had just come in after the sun had completely set. Zetsu had greeted her a few minutes after Deidara and Kisame left to go to the meeting. While Black Zetsu continued on scouting, White Zetsu had stayed with her to watch the remaining sun gradually disappear and supervise her until she went into the base. She had told them what had happened during the duration of the meeting and they replied with, "I don't think you should be listening to him, but you can believe what you'd like. **Would you like me to eat him for you?**"

Akiko was currently humming to herself until she heard the door knob turn. She stood on her feet and grinned. The first one who had opened the door was Kakuzu and she instantly latched onto his legs. Kakuzu glared at the offender, but softened very slightly when he noticed it was Akiko.

"Kakuzu!" Akiko happily shouted. Kakuzu replied with a grunt and a ruffle to her hair. She pulled back and pouted at the now knotted brown locks on her head. Akiko looked at the other members and grinned. "Hello again."

They all responded with a 'Hello' or something on the lines of that. When she noticed only five members exiting the room she tilted her head. "Where's everyone else? I know where Konan and Zetsu are."

"Hidan probably left to do his ritual; he was rather restless during the meeting." Itachi replied looking at her confused face. Akiko looked up at him with apologetic eyes. She mentally inputted in her brain to apologize to both Sasori and Itachi. The said Uchiha waved it off and continued to his room. Everyone dispersed to do their own things while Akiko waited until she was alone with the red-headed puppet.

Once everyone left to their own rooms, Akiko followed Sasori to his. She quietly rapped her small knuckles on the dark wood of the door that separated her and him. From behind the door, Sasori muttered "Come in" that was loud enough to be heard outside. Akiko hesitantly turned the knob to see Sasori tweaking up on Hiruko probably because it was exposed to the outside world and its grime during the recent mission. Coming to his puppet's conditions, Sasori is completely OCD.

"Hey Sasori." Akiko shyly said while looking down.

He stopped what he was doing and looked up at her with a raised brow. "Hello Akiko, Is there something that you need?"

"Not necessarily," Akiko answered. After a moment of silence she whispered loud enough for Sasori to hear. "I'm sorry."

"For?..." Sasori drawled, still interested in cleaning Hiruko.

"I was ignoring you and Itachi on the mission and I completely snapped at both of you." Akiko admitted still looking at the ever so interesting ground. Sasori stopped in what he was doing and carefully set Hiruko down. He crept towards Akiko and crouched so they were eye level. Sasori placed his wooden hand on her shoulder. "It's alright. There was something on your mind and you were confused. There's no harm done."

Akiko looked up with hope filled in her brown orbs. She smiled slightly and hugged the puppet who only had emotions when he was with her. Sasori immediately hugged back.

"Thank you, Sasori. I'm still sorry." Akiko sputtered into Sasori's shirt.

He smirked and patted her head. "You have my forgiveness."

"I love you." Akiko said while pulling away. He looked at her and returned the saying in his own ways.

* * *

_If you were wondering, the 'card' is referring to the method Jiraya taught Yahiko, Konan and Nagato. Where they would flip the card if they were leaving and they would flip it when they were inside the home. This is also why they freak out when they can't find her and the card hasn't been touched._

_Yeah, there's extreme fluffiness in this chapter. Sorry about that. _

_Reviews make me happy c:_


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